Two Kids, An Exwife And A Girlfriend
by InsaneWriter
Summary: Having two kids and a ex-wife was a challenge in itself. Add a girlfriend and things are bound to go south...
1. Epilogue

**A/N: So I know that I have to finish my other stories, which I will in time, but this is a story I had to write. Let me know if I should continue? It's a Dasey of course! Review.  
**

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Prologue

Casey was trying so hard not to scream at her ex-husband. Her eyes became wide and her pupils dilated with rage as she stated more than asked, "Are you kidding me, Derek?" she paused to regain her composure and went on, "It's only been a year since we divorced and you already have another woman moving in with you?" She was trying to stay calm for the sake of her children who were asleep upstairs.

"Spare me the drama, Case," Derek said, who was now in his mid-thirties. He paced across the living room with his arms crossed. "She's moving in with me, end of story."

Casey frowned at his stubbornness. "You don't expect the kids to stay at that apartment of yours with **her **there. I won't allow it." She folded her arms across her chest boldly.

"Well, I'm not letting them sleep outside," he said in frustration. "I still get the kids on the weekends."

"Like hell you do," said the woman in her mid-thirties. She had cut her brown locks and it was now shoulder length, because she found that after she had kids it became more difficult to spend time on herself in the mornings. She hadn't lost her shape, though. She looked good for having two kids, of course she had wider hips and bigger breasts, but that was to be expected and of course she was still as beautiful as ever.

Derek had put on some weight, but he still had a well defined body. His hair was short and he sported a suit these days. He was still as good-looking as ever and as cocky as ever also.

Casey grabbed the basket of clothes that was on the couch and began to fold them. "I can't believe you, Derek; do you know how selfish you sound right now? What am I supposed to tell the kids?"

"I was hoping we could talk to them together about this," Derek replied.

"I will never stop thinking about what's best for Anya and Blake. What you're doing…" she sighed. "It's too soon for them, Derek."

"It's too soon for them, or too soon for you?" He asked, studying her carefully.

Casey smiled in sarcastic amusement. "Get over yourself, D, I'm thinking about my kids."

He sat next to her and placed his hand on hers, he then changed to a more serious, gentle tone. "Casey, please… I've already discussed this with Brooke and she wants this to work."

She sighed, cursing herself for still having compassion for him. "I guess we can work something out."


	2. Chapter 1

She was a slender woman with brown hair, Derek always had a thing for girls with brown hair, then again he always had a thing for girls' period. This morning would prove to be one of the more difficult mornings because she woke up a bit late; she scrambled around the house trying to organize her thoughts.

"Blake, do you remember where I left your blue t-shirt?" she shouted through-out the apartment, digging through the dirty laundry in the wash room.

A boy about eight years old walked up to her wearing nothing but his undies, he had dark brown hair and pretty blue eyes like his mother. "I don't know," he shrugged innocently and with a smile.

A young twelve year old girl poked her head in and said smugly, "Brooke, Mom, just called, she's five minutes away." The girl had light brown hair and hazel eyes; she was wearing black converse sneakers, skinny jeans and a black sweat-shirt.

"Thank you, Anya," the woman stated sheepishly. "Ha, I found it!" she said pulling out a blue t-shirt.

The little boy screamed and immediately started running from her.

"Oh, Blake, honey, don't do this," she ran after him in her pajama pants, tank top and bath robe, "Anya, please help me with your brother," she said desperately.

Suddenly the doorbell rang of the modern decorated apartment.

"Anya, can you get the door?" Brooke asked as she continued to chase the screaming boy around the apartment.

"Well, make up your mind. Do you want me to help you with Blake or answer the door?" the young girl asked in annoyance.

Brooke stopped in her tracks, took a deep breath and said calmly, "Fine, I'll answer the door."

The door of the spacious apartment swung open and Brooke tried to smile, but could only manage a grin. "Hi Casey," Brooke greeted the dark-haired beauty.

Casey walked in; she was dressed in black slacks and a white woven sweater with two inch heels. "Is everything okay, Brooke?" she asked with a minimal look of concern.

"Mommy, Mommy!" Blake ran up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Blake, why aren't you dressed?" she looked up at Brooke with a raised eyebrow, she then looked back down at her son. "Come on, let's get you ready for school," Casey walked passed Brooke and made her way into her son's bedroom. Anya then walked up to her mom and greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. Brooke sighed as she closed the door.

**AAA**

"Hey sexy, how are you?" Derek picked up the hand-set to the phone on his desk as he went through a pile of papers. These days he was following in his dads footsteps; he had become a lawyer. It made sense, "Derek, the father of lies, master of deceit," what career could fit him better? Although, he was surprisingly more honest than most lawyers in the New York area.

"Horrible," exclaimed Brooke.

Derek pulled the phone away from his ear, she had said that a bit too loud. "Calm down, babe, what happened?" he asked her in concern as he straightened his burgundy colored tie. He was wearing a nice black suit, but in the office he would take off his jacket.

"I was getting the kids ready for school today and I couldn't find Blake's blue shirt, he was running from me and I'm convinced Anya hate's me as well as your ex-wife," Brooke ranted.

Chuckling, Derek replied, "You're over-reacting, Hon, they don't hate you, they just dislike you, trust me, there's a difference."

"That makes me feel a whole lot better, Der," she replied a bit of sarcasm ringing in her tone of voice.

He sighed. "Give it time, Bee," he assured her, "They'll come around."

There was a brief pause before she asked, "How can you be so sure?"

"Cause I know Casey," he replied.

"Okay," she said hesitantly. "Well, I'll let you get back to work. I love you."

He smirked and replied, "I love you too." And with that he hung up the phone. He sat there for a moment, drumming his fingers on his dark oak desk. Finally, he picked up the phone and dialed. It rang.

"Let me guess, you just talked to Brooke," was the greeting he got.

Smiling inwardly he replied, "She's really upset, Case."

"Hey, it's not my fault she can't handle something as simple as getting the kids dressed and ready for school," was the woman's harsh reply.

"You know for a fact that's not a simple task," he argued.

Sighing, she asked, "Is there a point to this phone call?"

"It wouldn't hurt to be a bit nicer to Brooke, would it?" he asked as he leaned back in his leather desk chair.

"I'm being as nice as I possibly can to this woman, Dee," she responded a bit defensively. "How would you feel if you were in my position?"

He scratched his head, took a breath and muttered, "Touché."

"It has only been a month since we agreed on this little arrangement and so far I don't like how she's progressing, she needs to try harder and that's my honest opinion," Casey stated firmly.

"She's been busy with her career, you know that," Derek replied.

"Well then, I guess she'll just have to set her priorities straight," she replied quickly. "Look, I have to go, I have clients to attend to, I'll talk to you later."

Derek heard a click, then a busy tone. He hung up the phone and laid his head down on his desk in exasperation.

**AAA**

"Ex-husband?" said a red-haired woman wearing heels, a purple blouse and black slacks. She was skinny and younger than Casey. She had popped her head into the brown haired woman's office.

Casey was massaging her temples with her index and middle finger, going in small circles. It was apparent she was irritated. "Yes, Amanda," she muttered with her eyes closed.

"Oh," the red head then refrained from the subject. "Mrs. Headley called to find out if you're free on Saturday for a session," Amanda stated carefully.

Sighing, Casey looked in her appointment book. Yes, it was true, Casey McDonald had become a well known therapist, and she was also the author of two award winning self help books. "I can't this Saturday I have to take Blake to hockey practice."

"She said it's urgent," Amanda stated.

Casey looked down at her appointment book, then at Amanda then back down. The therapist inhaled then exhaled before responding, "Book it."

Her assistant nodded and left, shutting the door.

Casey sat at her brown oak desk just staring at her blackberry phone. In utter hesitation she picked up the phone and hit the call back button.

"This is Derek Venturi speaking," said the familiar voice.

"Okay, Venturi, I have a dilemma," Casey began.

"Casey, how nice of you to call," Derek stated in sarcasm.

She sighed, obviously aggravated. "Would you let me finish?"

It was silent for a brief moment.

"Blake has hockey practice on Saturday, but I won't be able to take him," she said quickly.

"Okay?" Derek said slowly and as if he didn't care.

"Der-ek," Casey exclaimed, her levels of annoyance definitely rising by the minute. "Take him, please," she said firmly yet sincerely.

"Casey, I'm working on a big case right now that it taking up all my weekends, I can't take him, but I know someone who can."

Casey could just see that famous 'Derek Venturi' smirk and even though they weren't married anymore she knew exactly what he was thinking. "No," she said firmly.

"Come on, just give her a chance," he said almost pleading with her.

"No, Derek, don't start," Casey replied.

"Casey, give her a chance, I know she can do this," he said seriously. "Please?" he added hoping that word would make her cave.

It was quiet for a long moment before she finally responded, "Fine, but if she screws this up so help me,"

He cut her off, "Yeah, Case, I know, he's my kid too, you know."

"Fine," her voice suddenly became soft. "Thanks."

"No prob."

She could see him smirking again. After their good-bye's Casey leaned back into her leather desk chair and couldn't help but to smile also.

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**A/N**: **And that concludes my first chapter. Hope you all like it and have a Happy Thanksgiving! I'll try to update by next week, no promises though.**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: So here's the corrected version.  
**

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This was it; this was her only chance to show Casey, to show Derek that she was a responsible adult. One simple task; bring Blake to his hockey practice. How hard could it be?

"Brooke, hurry up and find parking, you're gonna make him late," Anya said as Brooke circled the arena once more.

"I'm doing the best I can, Anya," Brooke replied calmly.

"Just drop us off in the front," the young girl said in annoyance.

Blake sighed as he sat in the back seat of the sporty BMW with leather interior. At least he was already padded up and ready to go. "It's okay, Anya," he said almost in a whisper.

"No, it's not, Blake. When mom brings you, you're never late," Anya stated upsettedly.

Brooke raised her voice a bit and said, "I am not your mother."

Anya glared at the brunette, sunk into the passenger seat and muttered, "Thank God for that…"

Finally, Brooke found a parking spot near the arena and the three ran to get Blake to his practice. He was 15 minutes late and the coach was not happy about that.

As the two girls watched Blake's practice, Brooke's cell phone rang; she answered it, "Hello?"

"Hey, how's everything?" it was Derek.

"Everything's fine," she replied non-chalantly.

"Good, I'm glad," he sighed tiredly. "I love you."

She smiled; Anya looked at her in disgust and walked away.

"I love you too," Brooke replied before saying to Anya, "Don't wander far."

Anya appeared to just ignore her.

"I gotta get back to work, I'll call you later," said Derek and they bid each other good-bye, then Brooke put her cell back in her jacket pocket.

Another twenty-five minutes passed and practice was over. Brooke waited by the boys' locker room for Blake to walk out. He walked out all changed, but still sweaty.

"You gotta take a shower when we get home," She commented as she took him by the hand. "Let's go find your sister."

They checked the concession area and she wasn't there, they checked the hockey arena and even the girls' bathroom, Anya was nowhere to be found. Brooke began to panic, how could she lose a twelve year old girl? Too bad she didn't have a cell phone; Casey thought it unpractical for a girl her age to have a cell phone.

Brooke and the young boy walked back to the car and there Anya was leaning against the sports car smugly.

"Were you here the whole time? Don't you know your brother and I have been going crazy looking for you?" The young woman tried to say calmly.

Blake looked up at the blond and said innocently, "I knew she was here."

Brooke closed her eyes and took deep breathes. She looked down at the boy and asked, "Blake, honey, why didn't you say anything?"

He shrugged and stated simply, "You didn't ask."

"Are we going or what? I have homework," Anya asked firmly, crossing her arms.

Brooke sighed and unlocked the car; she was completely discouraged and questioned her motives.

Derek arrived to the apartment early that night; his girlfriend had told him what his daughter had done and it made him angry. Anya knew better than to wander off, he decided to walk into her room and talk to her about it.

There his pre-teen daughter sat, sitting up on her bed doing her homework. She reminded him of someone… He shook the thought from his head and took a seat next to her asking, "What're you working on, Ani?"

"Dad, I know what this is about," the young girl said, not taking her eyes off her books.

"Do you?"

She glanced at him, "Yeah, it's about me wandering off and almost giving Brooke a heart-attack." The corner of her mouth went up in a half-grin.

"Why don't you like her, Ans?" Derek inquired.

"Why do you like her?" Anya questioned him back.

"She's a very beautiful woman and has a great personality," the dad replied after a moment of silence.

Anya sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yeah and she also could pass for my older sister, dad," she pointed out to him semi-amused, but completely serious.

"Anya, she's special to me and I'm asking you to respect that," he said placing his hand on hers.

The young girl stared at her father for a moment before pulling her hand away. "Mom was special to you, dad. What happened there?"

Derek was not expecting that from his eldest daughter. It completely caught him off-guard. Then it hit him, his little girl was growing up. "You are too smart for your own good, you know that?" He kissed her forehead and stood up. "Don't wander off like that again, Anya."

Sighing, the girl nodded. "Okay," she muttered hesitantly.

They smiled at each other before Derek walked out shutting the door behind him. He walked into the kitchen and saw his girlfriend leaning against the counter with her arms crossed in anticipation.

"Well?" she asked him firmly.

"Don't worry, I talked to her, she's not gonna do it again," he replied grabbing a beer from the fridge, twisting the cap open and taking a swig.

Brooke followed him into the living room. "That's it? No punishment?"

"I don't think punishment is necessary, Bee, she understands what she did was wrong," Derek said plopping down on his black leather recliner. He had gotten it as a present from Brooke, but it looked more comfortable than it really was. He adjusted himself in the seat and turned on the flat screen TV which hung on the wall across from the black leather sofa and loveseat.

"I think you should get her a cell phone, Derek," Brooke stated as she stood in his way of view.

"Hun, do you mind?" he asked, gesturing for her to move.

She placed her arms across her chest and continued to stand there stubbornly. "Derek, are you listening to me?"

He looked up at her and sighed.

Casey sat in her home on the outskirts of the city, doing laundry, waiting for her children to arrive. Finally, Anya and Blake walked through into the cozy country home and hugged their mother tightly. Then she noticed something in Anya's hand, it was a cell phone.

"Sweetie, where did you get that?" Casey questioned her daughter.

"Daddy gave it to me today," Anya replied.

Hiding her anger, Casey told her children to do their homework and walked outside. Derek was just about to get into his mini-SUV when the woman stopped him saying, "Why did you give, Anya a cell phone? I thought we had talked about it."

"I know, I just thought it'd be a good idea, Case," he lied.

The mom's eyes narrowed and asked as she placed her hands on her hips, "Did something happen, Derek?"

He sighed, "Anya wandered off for a bit at Blake's hockey practice."

Casey's eyes widened in anger, "I knew it! So you think a cell phone will solve it?"

"It was Brooke's idea," Derek frowned as if he knew he shouldn't have said that.

"No wonder! Derek, we had talked about this and you just decided to throw everything we had talked about out the window, just because your girlfriend who knows nothing about kids or how to raise them says that Anya needs a cell phone," Casey exclaimed in utter annoyance.

"This isn't about the cell phone and you know it, Case," Derek said walking up to her.

"Yes, it is," she retorted.

"No it isn't," he said louder.

"Alright, well if this isn't about the cell phone then what is this about?" she crossed her arms calmly and waited for him to explain himself.

"It's about Brooke, you're threatened by her, afraid she's gonna win over the kids," he stated calming himself down. "So what if they like her a little?"

"Oh my god, Derek, I could kill you right now," Casey groaned in frustration and began to walk away.

"Why? Cuz' you know I'm right?" Derek followed her.

She didn't answer him, just continued to walk away.

He grabbed her by the arm and spun her towards him, "Don't walk away from me."

"Why not? You did," she gazed into his eyes for a moment, seeing that what she had said affected him. "Look, just go home," And in saying that she walked back into her house and shut the door. She leaned up against the door and began to cry…


	4. Chapter 3

Derek arrived to the apartment, that moment replaying over and over in his head with Casey. He didn't know why it got to him, why he had let her get to him. He sat down on the couch and cupped his face in his hands.

Brooke then came and sat beside him, she was wearing nothing but a black slip. "Honey, aren't you coming to bed?"

He kept his hands to his face and said, "Yeah, just give me a second." He kind of shimmied away from her.

"What's wrong, love?" She asked as she kissed his neck lightly.

"Nothing," he looked up at her and managed to fake a smile. "Go to bed, hon, I'll be right there," he kissed her cheek. She smiled, stood up and walked away leaving him to his solitude.

As soon as she was gone he walked into the laundry room and closed to the door, he then took out his phone and looked up Casey's cell number, he then had a flash back.

_Her eyes were filled with tears, as if they were ready to pour over, but she was holding them back. She gazed into his eyes and asked him, "Why?"_

_ He turned and gazed out the window, it was raining hard outside. The drops of rain pounded against the window as the silence grew between the couple. "I'm tired of fighting with you Casey," he said quietly. "That's all we ever do, if it's not one thing it's another."_

_ She choked back her tears as she said, "I thought we were making progress, with the counseling and going out on our weekly dates."_

_ "It's not enough, Casey," he said in a whisper. "We both know this was coming."_

_ "No, I didn't…"_

_ He looked at her and saw the tears streaming down her cheeks, he walked up to her and tried to embrace her, but she pulled away._

_ "No! Don't touch me," she exclaimed and turned around walking into the kitchen as Derek followed._

_ "Don't be like this, Casey," Derek grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks._

_ "Well, what did you expect, Derek? Did you expect me to be jumping for joy? Happy that our marriage is ending?" she asked him in sarcasm._

_ "I'm sorry," he let her arm go and faced her once more._

_ "Just know, Derek Venturi, that you walked out on this marriage and I will never forgive you for it," with that she walked upstairs with tear stained cheeks._

Derek squeezed his phone in the palm of his hands; a single tear fell from his eye to the cold tile floor. He looked at his phone once more and saw "Casey's cell" on the screen. He pushed the call button and it began to ring. As to be expected she didn't pick up and just got her voicemail.

"You've reached the voice box of Casey McDonald; please leave your name, number and a detailed message after the beep."

He wanted so badly to say something, but he didn't have the words. He wanted to tell her how he felt at that moment, but he himself couldn't explain it. Derek breathed into the phone, trying to speak to her. "Casey, I…" Suddenly there was a knock on the door and he quickly hung up his phone.

"Derek, are you in there?" it was Brooke.

He opened the door and walked out, "Sorry, babe, I had to make a phone call."

"Who did you call at 1:30 in the morning, Derek?" Brooke crossed her arms with a firm gape upon her features.

"Don't worry about it," he passed her and walked into the bedroom leaving her suspicious and a bit upset.

Casey walked into her kitchen in her baby blue bath robe; her long dark hair was up in a messy bun as she went for a cup of coffee. She poured a cup of dark coffee into her "Number 1 mom" cup her kids had gotten her for "Mother's day". She walked over to her charging station and saw that she had a missed call from Derek and a voicemail. She listened to it and was a bit confused by it, mostly because he had called her at 1 o' clock in the morning. Usually he never called her unless it was about the kids or an emergency and she was pretty sure it wasn't an emergency, but… Maybe she should call him back just in case.

"Mommy, can you help me?" Blake came stumbling down the stairs with his shirt on in an awkward manner. His head went through the arm hole and his arm went through the head hole. At least his pants were on correctly except for the fact that they were inside out.

Casey laughed at her son before helping him fix the mess he had made of himself, completely forgetting to call Derek back.

"Mom, I left my soccer gear at dad's apartment, we have to get it today," Anya ran down in a panicked mess.

Smiling, Casey thought how Anya reminded her of herself. She was such a drama queen. "Anya, sweetie, calm down, I'll go pick it up after I drop you and your brother off at school."

"Okay," Anya breathed as she sat down at the table.

"What do you guys want for breakfast?" Casey asked as she finished putting on Blake's shirt.

"I'll just have some cereal, mom," Anya replied.

"I want green eggs and ham," Blake said with a playful laugh.

"Do you?" Casey laughed and tickled the boy until he began to laugh.

Later that day, after all of Casey's appointments, she drove to Derek's apartment. She knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. She was expecting Brooke, but surprisingly it was Derek who answered.

"Hey," she said awkwardly.

"Hey," he smiled as if he were happy to see her.

There was a brief silence between them as they just stared into each other's eyes. Then she saw it, Derek's famous smirk that made her weak in the knees. The smirk that made women fall for him.

"Don't look at me like that, Derek," she said softly.

"Like what?" he asked innocently.

"I need Anya's soccer gear," she said abruptly.

He opened the door for her to come in; he was dressed comfortably in some grey sweat pants and white t-shirt, also wearing black house shoes. Surprised at his gesture and somewhat suspicious she walked in.

"Where's Brooke?" Casey asked as she followed him to their daughter's room.

"Working…" he replied as he rummaged through Anya's things and found her soccer bag. "Listen, I've been wanting to talk to you about something." He handed the bag to his ex-wife.

"Really… What is it?" she asked curiously, trying to hide her nervousness.

They walked back into the living room and Derek suggested for her to sit down, so she did. "Casey, I've been thinking and…" Derek trailed off and scooted closer to her, taking her hand in his.

She studied his eyes. "Der, spit it out," she prodded.

In on quick breath, Derek said, "I'm gonna ask Brooke to marry me."

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**A/N: Sorry for such an abrupt ending to the Chapter. Hope you liked it though! Review and maybe I'll continue :-D**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: I'm back! Kind of... I revised this a bit. Next chapter will be up shortly, I hope...**

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Blinking in disbelief, Casey muttered, "Excuse me?" She felt her heart sink into her stomach and her breath had suddenly left her. Was this some sick joke? She asked herself.

"Casey, I'm gonna ask Brooke to be my wife," he gazed into her eyes as if he were looking for something, she just couldn't figure out what.

"Derek, don't you think it's a bit soon to be thinking about marriage? I mean, you hardly knew the woman a year," she stated pointedly. "What about the kids? You know how they feel about her, dammit." She could feel her blood pressure rising by the second.

"I was hoping that you, me and the kids could go out to dinner and talk about this," he replied calmly.

Casey on the other hand wasn't calm at all. "Seriously, Der, you're gonna spring this on them, do you know how devastated they're gonna be?" She was now pacing.

"Case," he stopped her and placed both his hands on her shoulders. "It's gonna be okay, we can work this out."

She looked up into his eyes and studied him, with a heavy hearted sigh she said, "That's what I don't understand." She turned away.

"What?" he asked her curiously.

"That you're so willing to try and work things out with her, but you were never willing to work things out with us," she could feel the tears start to surface, so she said quickly, "I gotta go, I'll talk to you later," with that she left. How could he be so selfish? They hadn't even been divorced a year and he was already thinking about marriage to another woman. It sounded bad to her, but then she calmed herself down and thought, _he's happy with her…_

Derek stared at the one karat diamond solitaire ring in his hand and began to debate whether or not this was a good idea. He did love Brooke and they got along very well… Almost too well, but that's how it's supposed to be, right? It's not normal for a couple to fight and bicker all the time, right? He heard the front door slam shut and he quickly pocketed the ring. Brooke walked into the living room and greeted him with a kiss.

"Hello, my love, I brought us dinner," she held up a pizza box and he could smell the delicious Italian marinara sauce, cheeses, vegetables and meat. It wasn't his favorite, but he was hungry.

Just as he was about to take a bite out of a huge slice of pizza, his cell phone rang. It was his dad, George.

"Hello, son, you busy?" the dad stated more than asked.

"Uhm… Kind of in the middle of dinner," Derek replied, his mouth full of pizza.

"Oh, okay, well Nora asked me to call you to see if you're free next month. We're all going to grandma Felicia's lodge for four days, we wanted to know if you, the kids and Casey were free," said George.

Derek sighed, "Dad, you know Casey and I are divorced and that I have a new girlfriend, right?"

"Bring her along, Der, I'm sure Lizzie, Edwin, Marti and Kara would love to meet her," George said. Nora then chimed in on the other line, "We'd like to meet her too, Derek."

Derek rolled his eyes, then he looked over at his girlfriend and said, "Sure, dad, we'd love to come up to the lodge for a few days."

Brooke's eyes became wide with a combination of anger and fear as Derek bid his dad good-bye. She placed her hands on her hips and asked, "I hope you didn't just volunteer us to go to your Grand-mothers lodge."

"Okay, first of all, she isn't my Grand-mother and second of all it's only four days, plus the rest of my family want to meet you," Derek took Brooke's hand in his and kissed it lightly, which made her melt and she nodded in agreement.

The days passed quickly into the next month and soon enough it was time to go to Felicia's lodge. Casey was packing up the mini-van the night before they were supposed to leave and Anya helped. She was thinking about the many things that could go wrong on this trip. It was pretty much a family reunion, except Derek and Casey weren't well, Derek and Casey anymore. She remembered a time when her mom and his dad disowned the two for getting married which had put stress on their marriage as well.

"I don't like this, mom," Anya said as she tossed her pink duffel bag in the trunk.

"What don't you like, hun?" Casey asked as she organized the maps in the glove compartment. She was trying to figure out which was the latest up-to-date map.

"I don't like daddy bringing Brooke with him to Grandma's lodge," Anya attested in annoyance. "I just wish he would fall in love with you again, mom."

Casey felt her heart drop, she looked at Anya through the rear-view mirror and said, "Sweetie, your dad and I are happy the way we are right now," she paused for a moment to take a deep breath. "And you know, daddy's happy with Brooke. Don't you want dad to be happy?"

"Yeah, but I want you to be happy too, mom," Anya replied softly.

Smiling, Casey walked up to her daughter and hugged her tightly. "I am happy, Anya. I'm happy with you and Blake. I don't need daddy."

"Dad needs you," Anya said into Casey's sweat-shirt sounding a bit muffled.

The mom just stood there continuing to hug her daughter. Casey knew that Derek didn't need her; he had Brooke now, his future wife and lifelong mate. They were meant for each other. One question plagued her mind, who was she meant for?

The next day, Derek was juggling three large suit cases and they weren't his either. He was being followed closely by his girlfriend, who had her hair up in a ponytail, wearing jeans a t-shirt which revealed a good amount of cleavage and her Prada sun glasses. She was also carrying the latest purse Coach had designed.

"Mind giving me a hand?" Derek asked her as he piled the luggage into the back of the silver mini-SUV.

She glanced at him as if repulsed by his request and replied, "I just had my nail done, Derek." And in saying that Brooke hopped into the passenger seat, closing the door, Derek could hear the echo of the slam through-out the parking garage. He already knew this was going to be a long ride.

Casey and the kids arrived at the lodge first. She parked the van in front of the main hall to see if her grandma and the others were there. Before she could turn off the engine she saw her little half-sister Kara run out the doors.

"Oh my gosh Kara, look at you," Casey stepped out of the van and hugged the teen.

Kara had the McDonald eyes, but had George's smile, hair and wit. She was wearing jeans, a sweat-shirt and sneakers. Casey was surprised how much she had matured, already graduating from high school.

"I can't believe you're already graduating from high school, Kara," Casey stated cupping the teenagers face in her hands.

In that moment, Lizzie walked out and looked very pregnant. When Casey saw her sister she was flabbergasted. Yeah, her and Lizzie communicated on the phone once a month, but never once did she mention she was pregnant!

"Uhm… Lizzie, do you wanna explain this to me?" Casey stated more than asked as she walked up to the woman who was wearing leggings and plaid shirt with comfy ugg boots. She looked about five or six months pregnant.

"I was gonna tell you, sis," Lizzie said innocently.

"Who's the father?" Casey asked sternly.

"Don't worry about that part, it's over between us," Lizzie said in a soft voice.

Just then Edwin, Marty, George and Nora walked out. Lizzie had become a Physical Therapist, Edwin had become a plastic surgeon, Marty was working on her Masters in business, George was still a lawyer doing minor cases in the city and Nora was a professional event/party planner.

"Casey, it's so good to see you," Nora was the first to embrace her daughter, then George, Marty and finally Edwin. At this time Anya and Blake hopped out of the van.

Casey's grandma soon walked out of the hall carrying a cane, she was also limping.

"Grandma, what happened?" Casey asked as she walked up to the elder woman, hugging her.

"Oh, it's just a little sprain, I wouldn't worry about it, dear," Felicia said very non-chalantly. "Where are my great grand-children?"

Anya and Blake ran up to Felicia and hugged her tightly. As she was hugging the two kids, she asked, "Where's Derek?"

Casey glanced over at her mom and mouthed the words, "She doesn't know?"

Nora shook her head.

"Grandma, we divorced a little over a year ago. He has a new girlfriend, in fact he's bringing her to meet the family," Casey tried to say happily.

Felicia's face went blank, she then told the kids, "Why don't you two go inside and get something to eat, there's sloppy Joes."

Anya and Blake ran inside quickly.

Felicia then glanced over at Nora.

"Well we should go inside and eat as well, it was a long drive," Nora said as she pulled George by his shirt urging him to go inside.

"But I'm not hungry," Edwin commented.

Kara pushed him from behind. "You are now," she stated as Marty followed with a look of amusement on her face.

As soon as Casey and Felicia got a moment alone, the grandma looked over at the setting sun along the horizon; the mixture of orange, gold and yellow, the water shimmering calmly and the breeze blowing gently.

"So," the grand-mother sat next to Casey on the swing bench. "Explain to me what happened between you two."

"Grandma, it's complicated," Casey replied twiddling her thumbs.

"Honey, there's no reason why you and Derek shouldn't have worked out, unless you or him gave up on trying," Felicia said as she leaned back in the seat.

Casey sighed, "There are a lot of reasons why it didn't work."

Felicia studied her grand-daughter for a long moment before saying, "He was the one who wanted it, right?"

The young woman looked into her grand-mothers eyes and said nothing.

"Casey, sweetie, do you still love him?"

That was a question Casey couldn't answer. Did she still love Derek? Her mouth clamped shut and she bit her lip, finally she answered, "I don't know."

Suddenly, they heard a loud honk and shortly after a silver mini-SUV coasted up behind Casey's van. Great, the happy couple had arrived and she was just shouting on the inside and it wasn't for joy. This was definitely going to be interesting…


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hello my lovely fan-fictioners (Don't know if that's a word) Oh well... Sorry it took so long for me to update. I've been busy with school and work. I hope this chapter will suffice for now. Ready, set, Review!**

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Derek hopped out of the mini SUV and made his way up to Felicia, standing next to Casey on the patio. He hugged her and said, "Felicia, it's so good to see you."

The grand-mother hugged him back and said, "Likewise, Derek." She then turned to Brooke who was making her way up to them. "This must be the new girl-friend," she said as she politely greeted the young woman with a hug.

"Thank you for inviting us, Misses McDonald," Brooke smiled.

"Well, come in for some dinner. We're having sloppy Joes," she opened the door for them. Brooke walked in and Felicia purposely walked in herself, leaving Derek and Casey a moment to themselves.

"Did you ask her?" Casey asked crossing her arms and a stern look on her face.

"Yes, I did," he replied.

"And?"

His response was hesitant, like her didn't want to tell her the truth, but he did anyway, "She said 'yes'," he said with a straight face.

Casey took a deep breath and managed to grin. "Well, Congratulations, you got what you wanted."

He nodded. "Thank you and yes I did."

They just left it at that and walked inside to join the rest of the family.

"Derek, aren't you going to introduce us to your girl-friend?" George said walking up to his son and hugging him.

"Everyone, this is Brooke, Brooke, this is everyone," Derek said being the smart-alec he is.

George and Edwin were the first to greet her, Nora, Lizzie, Kara and Marty greeted her also, but they greeted her because they were obligated to and so did the kids.

"Nice to meet you all," Brooke said with smile.

"Let's eat!" Derek exclaimed as he sat down at the table.

There the family sat, in the dinner hall, enjoying their sloppy Joes and just talking. It was mostly the kids making funny comments on things and the adults laughing in amusement. An hour or two had passed and Blake began to fall asleep in his food.

"Look at my boy, I better put him to bed," Casey said wiping her mouth with a napkin.

Kara stopped her, "No, stay, I'll put Blake to bed."

"Are you sure?" Casey asked in concern.

"Yeah, I'm sure you all have a lot to catch up on," Kara replied, picking up Blake and laying his head on her shoulder.

"I'll go with her," Anya said dragging herself tiredly from her seat.

"Okay, goodnight, sweetie," Casey said kissing her daughters forehead before she walked out.

Everyone said goodnight to the three as well before they left.

There was an awkward silence before George broke it, "So, what's up with everyone?" He turned to Casey and asked, "What have you been up to?"

"Just work and taking care of the kids," Casey said as she shifted in her seat.

"I'd love to keep talking about Casey's boring life, but I have much better news to tell you all," Derek said as she grabbed Brooke's hand with a smirk on his handsome countenance.

"Well, what is it?" Lizzie prodded as she rubbed her belly.

"Brooke and I are engaged!" Derek pulled out her left hand to show off the huge diamond ring on her finger.

Casey wanted to punch him in the face for telling them all at that particular moment. Her reaction was of disdain as the room was suddenly deathened in silence and all they heard was the mating call of the crickets which, naturally, came from outside.

"That's great, bro!" Edwin said finally breaking the silence. He walked up behind the couple and hugged them both together with an over-excitement that seemed to annoy Derek.

Felicia just smiled, congratulated them, excused herself and walked out with the help of her cain.

Lizzie for the sake of the peace, politely did the same as her grand-mother and Nora, well, she looked as if she wanted to kill Derek. George nudged his wife gently and she smiled congratulating the couple as well. She then stated her desire to get some sleep and walked out somewhat abruptly. George followed his wife's action, but his congratulations seemed more sincere.

"That went well…" Derek muttered in an uncomfortable amused tone of voice.

"You just had to," Casey stated unsurprised and disappointed.

"They were going to find out sooner or later, Casey," said Brooke as she stood from the table, she then glanced over at Derek. "We should get some sleep, hun."

"I'll meet you at our cabin," he replied.

She scoffed and walked out.

"No," Casey stood up abruptly.

Obviously bewildered, Derek asked, "No what?"

"I don't want to argue or fight about this any longer. Go with your girl-friend," she paused. "Or should I say 'fiance', now."

"Case, come on, don't be like that," he followed her out.

"Don't follow me, Venturi," she exclaimed angrily.

"I don't even know what you're angry about, I told you I was going to ask her to marry me," he said as he grabbed her arm and spun her to face him.

"That's just it, Derek, you 'told' me you were going to ask her, just like you 'told' me you were going to divorce me. Never in our years of marriage did you ever ask for an opinion from me. You just did it!" she laughed softly and said, "I don't even know why I'm putting energy into trying to reason with you. You know what? Congratulations, I hope you and Brooke have a long happy life together." She turned around and continued to walk to her cabin.

"Casey, Wait dammit," He cut her off once more and gazed into her eyes. "Do you still have feelings for me?"

The anger in her grew more as she exclaimed, "No. Why would you ever assume such a thing? My concern is for my children and their well-being and that is it. The only reason why you're still in my life is because of them."

Derek seemed taken aback by that remark. He stepped out of her way and she walked away, finally entering the cabin. She jumped face first onto the couch and screamed in frustration into the pillow.

"Mommy, are you okay?" Anya walked out of the bedroom which was next to the small kitchen.

Casey popped her head up from the couch and managed a smile. "Oh yeah, I'm fine, sweetie. Go back to sleep."

Rubbing her eyes tiredly she closed the door and dragged her half-asleep body back to bed.

Casey sat up on the couch and crossed her arms, sighing quite heavily. Okay, she had to admit that last comment she made to him was a bit harsh, but he has said way worse things to her. She laughed inwardly. _Look at me; I'm not a five year old. Dammit, he never fails to get under my skin._


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: Sorry for the delay. I've just had so much on my plate lately, anyhow, here's another Chapter! Review!**

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Casey fell asleep on the couch at around three o' clock in the morning. Felicia came in blaring her fog horn at around six o' clock in the morning, so you could imagine how tired she was. _Ugh… Why does my grand-mother have to be a morning person? _Casey thought as she sat threw a pillow over her head trying, but failing to drown the noise of the horn.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauties," Felicia exclaimed in a sing-song tone of voice.

Blake and Anya walked out of their room still asleep. Casey slowly sat up and asked, "Why are you waking us up so early, grandma?"

"Early? This is late, darling, wake up. We're wasting away the day," Felicia said as she opened the curtains in the living room.

Casey squinted her eyes as they adjusted to the light and laid back down.

"Come on, up, up, up!" The grandma shook her grand-daughter.

"Okay, okay," Casey made her way to her feet and into the bathroom to take a cold shower.

After the whole family finished eating breakfast, Felicia suggested that they all go for a swim at her favorite spot. The catch was that they all had to go for a little hike to get there.

"I'm not an outdoor girl, Felicia, is it okay if I sit this one out?" Brooke asked wearing, white shorts, pink blouse and silver gladiator sandals.

Felicia's looked at Derek's fiancee and stated, "This is your chance to get to know us better, Brooke. I don't want you to miss out on this wonderful opportunity."

Brooke sighed and nodded not looking so happy.

"Come on, hon, it'll be fine," Derek assured her as he rubbed her thigh.

"You know I don't like to get dirty," Brooke whispered.

"Is there a problem here?" Casey took the seat in front of them.

"No, not at all, Casey, I was just telling Derek how excited I was about the hike," Brooke smiled and dug her nails into Derek's thigh.

He yelped in pain.

Casey just looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Don't mind me, I'm just excited as well," he said trying to smile, but could only manage a grin.

Casey rolled her eyes as she stood up and walked out of the dinner hall to get ready for the hike.

**AAA**

The family began the hike with Felicia in the front leading the way, even with her sprained ankle. It helped that Edwin was beside her helping her along and the trail wasn't too bad. Behind them were Nora, George, Blake, Anya and Kara, followed by Derek and Brooke, then finally Casey helping along Lizzie with Marty as well.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me about this Lizzie," Casey said pointing to Lizzie's belly.

Marty sighed.

"I was meaning to, sis, I really did," Lizzie said as she waddled along.

"Well, you had plenty of chances to tell me, I mean, look at you?" Casey stated. "Who's the father?" she added.

Lizzie replied, "It doesn't matter."

Casey said quickly, "It does to me."

Lizzie was silent for a moment as she glanced at Marty.

"You may as well tell her," Marty stated.

Lizzie whispered it in her sister's ear. Casey's eyes widened and muttered, "Are you serious?"

Soon enough they arrived at the lake. Blake, Anya and Kara were the first to run in. George picked up Nora and ran in with her in his arms. Edwin helped Felicia take a seat on the sandy shore. Brooke didn't want to get her hair wet so she and Derek just laid out on the shore. Lizzie and Marty took off their clothes revealing the swim suits they were wearing. Casey on the other hand was a bit hesitant. She was a bit self-conscious about her body.

"Come on Case, get in the water feels wonderful," Marty yelled.

"I think I'll just sit this one out, guys," Casey sat on the shore.

"Casey, get your butt in here," Nora shouted as she splashed with the kids and George.

So she stood up and removed her clothes revealing a pink and white bikini. Derek was rubbing sunscreen on Brooke and his attention was immediately pulled away by Casey's amazing body, her flat stomach, long dancer's legs, he was so shocked that he accidentally squeezed too much lotion onto his fiancee's back.

"Derek!" Brooke exclaimed upsettedly.

"I'm so sorry, babe," Derek said breaking his gaze away from Casey.

Felicia witnessed Derek's little accident and smiled in amusement.

Of course Casey was totally oblivious to Derek and his reaction; she was too busy tossing Blake around, playfully. On the dock near the small beach-like area, Lizzie sat, resting placing her feet in the cool water.

"Mind if I join you?" Edwin walked up and sat beside her.

She gave him a sidelong look and replied, "Actually, I do." She began to attempt to stand, but her belly wouldn't let her.

"Come on, Liz, let's just enjoy this," Edwin stated.

"I'm not gonna do this, Ed," she said firmly. "I'm not gonna pretend that everything is okay, because clearly, it's not."

"Don't get yourself worked up, Liz," he said more concerned if anything.

She finally managed to get to her feet. "Look, we both want different things in life and that's okay, just go on with your life and leave me be," and with that she walked away.

**AAA**

The walk back to the lodge was tiring especially for Brooke. She began to whine quietly to Derek. He began to become annoyed by her and realized that he didn't know her as well as he thought he did. What was she good at besides shopping and getting her way?

Finally they arrived back at the lodge and had dinner, most of the family was too tired to do anything else so everyone parted and went back to their own cabins.

As Casey sat in the living room of the cabin, there was a knock at the door. The kids were sound asleep and she was just enjoying some quiet time. So much for that… She stood and swung open the door to see Derek in sweat pants a wife-beater and flip-flops.

Surprised and a bit confused she asked, "Derek is something wrong?"

He let himself in and went straight to the mini kitchen, "What makes you think something's wrong?"

"For one, you have a hot young fiancee in your cabin and here you are with me, the ex-wife," she paused. "Something's just not right about that, Der."

He sighed as he closed the fridge; he then walked over to the couch and plopped down on the brown leather couch. "We're still friends right, Case? I mean, I know we didn't exactly end on good terms, but we've gotten passed all that right?"

"Well, yes, more or less, we're still friends," she crossed her arms and sat a few inches away from him.

He looked over at her and smiled.

"Derek, what's this about?" she asked him obviously bewildered.

"It's Brooke, she's driving me crazy," he stated in exasperation.

Casey raised an eye-brow and said, "What do you mean?"

"I never realized how many things we don't have in common and when I'm with her, I wanna be somewhere else," he glanced at her. "Something just isn't right about that."

She laughed lightly and responded, "I really don't know what to tell you." On the inside she was thinking, _serves him right_.

"I'm sorry about last-night, I know we both said things,"

She cut him off, "Did you just apologize to me, Venturi?"

He stood up smirking, "Yeah, don't get used to it, McDonald," he replied as he walked over to the fireplace mantle. He was looking at the massive trout hanging up. "That is one big fish," he said getting side-tracked.

She smiled at his comment, then after a moment her gleam faded as she said, "I'm sorry as well, Derek. I have to keep reminding myself that I…" she trailed off and just stared at him. "Never mind," she stated softly.

"No, tell me, Casey," he prodded.

She tucked a strand of brown hair behind her ear and replied hesitantly, "I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not your wife anymore." She looked up at him; he met her eyes with his in an intense manner.

"Oh," he tore his gaze from hers and just stared off into the distance for a while.

"Derek, there has to be some kind of sane reason for your visit tonight," Casey stated as she headed into the kitchen to do the dishes that were left in the sink by the kids.

He followed her into the cramped kitchen and replied, "There is, but I forgot."

She sighed and shook her head, "You and Brooke must have gotten into it."

He hung his head as if he didn't want to admit the truth.

"She's not letting you back into the cabin, is she?" Casey asked as she dried off her hands with the towel hanging on the oven handle of the stove.

He shook his head. "I was kind of hoping to sleep here tonight," he said raising the corner of his mouth in a half-grin.

"Why can't you sleep in Ed's cabin?" she inquired walking back into the living room.

Derek followed, "I tried, he is dead asleep and his door's locked."

Great, now she felt like she was a last resort. _What a jerk, typical Derek_. She wasn't going to let him sleep outside, sadly. "You can have the couch," she pushed him down onto it.

"What?" he popped back up. "Come on, Case, you have a king size bed all to yourself," he pointed out.

She already knew where he going with that statement and quickly replied, "No, we are not sharing a bed, Derek!"

"We've done it before," was his rebuttal.

"Ugh… Nice…" she crossed her arms in annoyance.

"Come on, I'll stay on my side of the bed," he followed her into the room.

He was right, it was a big bed and Casey was too tired to continue the argument so she just gave in to his request. "Fine, but you keep to yourself, Venturi," she pointed her index toward him in warning.

"You think too much of yourself," he replied.

Casey changed in the bathroom into shorts and a pink tank; she had also taken her bra off. She walked out and Derek was already in bed with the lights off. She climbed under the covers and there was a reasonably sized gap between them so she couldn't complain.

She lay on her side with her back towards Derek.

"Casey," He turned towards her and she realized that he had taken his shirt off as she glanced back at him. The moonlight was gleaming through the window onto them.

"Yeah?" she responded as she turned on her back.

He was propped up on his elbow, looking down at her. "I am sorry," he said earnestly.

"I told you not to worry about it…"

He interrupted, "No not about last night…" he paused and just stared into her eyes once more. "I'm sorry for hurting you, Case."

"I forgive you, Derek," she smiled. "Now can we please go to sleep?"

Smiling, he lay back down, "Yeah."

"Thank you," she said as she turned back onto her side.

"No, Thank you, Casey," he responded quietly.

She would never admit it, but she had the best night of sleep she had in a long time. She wasn't sure if it was a good thing that Derek and her were back to square one. Friends… Time would tell.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Check out my facebook page and hit the like button. The link is on my profile, enjoy! **

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Casey's eyes flickered open, she looked beside her expecting Derek to be there, but he was gone. She sat up, rubbed her eyes and questioned if last night ever happened. Did he mean what he said? Suddenly the door burst open and in ran her two children; they jumped on the bed and cuddled with their mom.

"I saw dad leave, is everything okay, mom?" Anya asked more concerned if anything.

"Everything's fine," Casey smiled reassuringly at her daughter.

Anya stared at her mom for moment before asking, "Are you and dad getting back together?"

It broke Casey's heart to hear those words come from Anya's mouth. "No, sweetie, we're not getting back together. You're father and I are a closed book," she stated firmly.

Just then Felicia walked into the room, "Good-morning, everyone." She has a cheerful smile on her face.

Anya and Blake hugged their great-grandma, then ran off to the kitchen to eat breakfast.

"Casey, honey, I saw Derek leave from here this morning, is everything okay?" Felicia sat next to her grand-daughter.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that? Everything's fine, he was just having a little fight with Brooke and he needed a place to stay," Casey replied. Okay that sounded a lot better in her head.

"Casey, you can't keep doing this," Felicia said carefully. "You can't keep being there for him when he runs."

"Grandma, I'm not always there for him," the young woman said in denial.

The elder woman gave her grand-daughter a severe look. "Oh really?" she continued, "Casey, you haven't even tried dating again."

"I have two kids, I don't have time for dating, grans," was her response.

"Oh, please, don't give me that excuse, you have time, you just have to make the time," Felicia said sternly. "Like tonight for example," a sly grin graced her features. "I've arranged a date for you tonight for the social."

"A blind date, are you serious?" Casey detested it apparently.

"It's hardly a blind date, Case, I'm sure you'll remember him," and in saying that, the meddling grand-mother left.

Casey fell forcefully face first into her pillow, letting out a frustrated groan. Okay, so her grandma noticed that she was avoiding the whole dating scene, but it wasn't intentional. She really was busy taking care of the kids and… answering Derek's every beckoning call… _Oh my god, I am making myself too available for him._

**AAA**

Derek decided to pick some flowers for his fiancée maybe that would melt her heart a bit. He approached the cabin and began to have second thoughts; _maybe marrying her is a big mistake_. He knocked on the screen door, he saw Brooke approach and open the door with a stern expression gracing her countenance.

"I picked these for you," he gave her the pink flowers with a smirk on his face.

She smiled and melted into his arms.

_She's too easy, _he thought.

As soon as they were done kissing and making up, Brooke brought up the summer social that was going to be held in the mess hall.

"I didn't bring anything formal, Derek," Brooke said as she rummaged through her suitcase. She stopped abruptly and advanced toward her fiancé seductively. "Is it okay if I make a stop in town to look for a dress?"

"Uh, sure," he replied completely mesmerized as she ran a finger up his abdomen.

"Could I have some money?" she asked as she kissed his neck ever so gently, giving him chills up and down his spine.

He took his wallet out of his pocket and gave her his credit card.

"Thanks sweetie, you're the best," she snatched the plastic from his hand and quickly made her way into the bathroom to get ready for her shopping adventure.

Sighing, he looked down at the lump which was pulsing underneath his sweats. "Oh come on," he said completely dissatisfied.

**AAA**

The summer social was a dance where the whole community came together to get to know each other better and just have fun. It had been a while since Casey had gone to one, so she was quite excited about it. However, she wasn't excited about the fact that her grand-mother had set her up with a date. Casey made her way up to the mess hall, she could hear big-band music, shadows of people dancing through the curtain covered windows and people sitting out on the patio. This was for adults only, so she had dropped Anya and Blake off at Kara's cabin.

Casey straightened out her grey pencil-skirt that she wore with classy fitted baby blue quarter sleeve blouse and black comfortable pumps. Lizzie walked up to her sister stopping her in her tracks, "Case, you're not at work, you know." She was wearing a beautiful blue and white summer dress with white sandals.

"Hey," the older sister said resentfully.

"Come here," Lizzie stood in front of her sister. First she rolled up Casey's sleeve's which made it look a bit more casual, undid the first three buttons of her shirt showing off a bit of cleavage, then she pulled her hair out of the bun, letting her hair flow freely in its natural wavy splendor. "There, that's more like it," Lizzie smiled. "Now let's go meet your date," she winked at her.

"Ugh, not you too," Casey said as she followed her sister in.

The hall wasn't too crowded, but it was still difficult for Casey and Lizzie to maneuver their way to their table. They both spotted Nora and George dancing to the up-beat music the DJ was playing.

"They look so cute," Casey said to her sister.

Just then Edwin walked up to Lizzie and asked, "Would you like to dance?"

Hesitantly, Lizzie took his hand and walked out onto the dance floor with him, leaving Casey alone at the dinner table.

"Casey," Felicia walked up to her grand-daughter with a familiar young man following behind her.

"You remember, Jesse, don't you?" Felicia placed her arm around the young man with a smile on her face.

Standing, Casey nodded, "Of course, we danced together that one year you were going to lose your lodge." She was a bit surprised.

"It's so good to see you again, Casey," Jesse said kissing her hand. "You haven't changed a bit."

Casey smiled a bit flattered. Jesse's hair had grown out and was styled in subtle spikes; he was wearing jeans, a white button up shirt and sneakers.

"Would you like to dance?" Jesse asked as he held his hand out for her to grab.

She nodded and took hold of his hand. He pulled her onto the dance floor.

"You're welcome," Felicia smiled.

**AAA**

"Come on Brooke, we're already late," Derek said as he straightened out his 'rolling stones' t-shirt, under a black blazer, dark blue jeans and sneakers.

She yelled from behind the bathroom door, "I'm almost done."

"This isn't a ball, you know," Derek said a bit annoyed.

Ten more minutes passed and Brooke walked out in a short red fitted dress and black pumps, with red lip stick. "You're going like that?"

He rolled his eyes, "Can we go now?"

She sighed and walked out saying, "You didn't even say anything about my dress."

"It's nice," he followed her and they made their way to the mess hall.

"That's it? That's all you have to say, Derek?"

"It's very nice?" He said, not really sure of what he should say.

She groaned. "Forget it."

It seemed like a long walk, but they finally made it to the hall. Derek's eyes wandered around. He saw Nora and George dancing, Lizzie and Edwin sitting at a table next to each other talking amongst others, Casey talking to another man… He had to do a double-take; yep Casey was sure speaking with another man.

"Oh look, Casey's made a friend," Brooke said with a smile on her face.

All Derek wanted to know was, _who the hell is that? _He didn't at all like the feeling he was experiencing at that moment. Was it, dare he say, jealousy? He waltzed up to Casey and her new guy friend and asked, "Hey, Casey, who's this?"

"Derek, this is Jesse, you remember him right? He helped us at the save-the-marsh show a long time ago," Casey said with a smile on her face.

"Ah, yes, how could I forget," Derek said shaking the man's hand.

"Nice to see you again, Derek," Jesse said with a friendly gleam on his features.

Derek couldn't help but be smug as he muttered, "Likewise."

"Come, Casey, let's dance," Jesse pulled the beautiful young woman out onto the dance floor once more.

Derek shot Jesse a narrow-eyed glare, then he walked over to Brooke and pulled her out onto the dance floor. Okay, so when he was a teenager he didn't know how to dance at all and Casey always gave him a hard time about it, so he decided later in life to take dance lessons. Now he was a pretty decent dancer if he did say so himself.

Surprisingly enough Brooke and Derek were able to keep up with Casey and Jesse. He glanced at his ex-wife with a smirk on his handsome features. She looked back at him as if she were warning him to stop. Of course he continued.

"Derek, I'm tired can we stop?" Brooke said after they danced for ten minutes, keeping up with Jesse and Casey. She was oblivious to the competition that was going on between Derek and Jesse.

"Yeah, fine," Derek let go of her, she walked outside to get some air and he took a seat at the table Lizzie was sitting at. Even she knew what was going on.

"Derek, no offense, but you're an idiot," Lizzie said, she then stood up and walked outside.

Edwin took a seat next to his brother and pat him on the back comfortingly. "It'll be okay, man."

Derek frowned at Edwin and said, "Shut up."

Edwin sighed and leaned back into his seat.

Derek was there for an hour more, then he couldn't stomach seeing Casey being all flirty with another man and had to leave. He made his way out with Brooke by his side, wondering why he was irritated.

As they walked into their cabin, Brooke asked, "What's wrong Derek?"

He went straight to the kitchen to make a sandwich. "Nothing," he replied as he roughly spread the mayonnaise on the bread and slapped turkey meat onto it.

"It sure doesn't seem like nothing's wrong," Brooke stated crossing her arms.

"Could you please, just be quiet and not nag me for like two seconds?" He said as he slammed the other half of bread which completed his sandwich.

"Derek, ever since we've arrived to this god-forsaken lodge, you've been so different," she said, obviously exasperated.

His back was facing her as he leaned against the counter, sighing. "I've been doing a lot of thinking, Brooke," he began. "Maybe it's not such a good idea that we get married," he turned to face her.

She placed her hand on her chest and her eyes began to get glossy. "What are you implying here, Derek? Are you breaking up with me?"

He stared at her for a moment, he really didn't want it to end like this, but this was really tearing him up inside. "Brooke, it's over," he said walking away into the other room with his sandwich.

"No," she exclaimed angrily. "You can't just break up with me like that."

"Oh come on, Brooke, we both know this wasn't working out," Derek replied calmly.

With her hands firmly place on her hips, Brooke gradually walked up to Derek, stared straight into his eyes and said, "Derek, I'm pregnant."

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**A/N: Dun, Dun, Dun! Sorry to end it so abruptly, hope you all like it and don't forget to check out and like my facebook page :-)**

**Review!  
**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: Short Chapter, I hope this will do for now. I'll try to post up another as soon as possible. Review!**

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Derek's mind went blank for a moment as he dwelled on the two words that came out of Brooke's mouth. It couldn't be true; well then again he didn't always use protection. At that moment he felt like an idiot.

"I'm sorry, what?" he needed to make sure his ears weren't deceiving him.

"I'm pregnant," she repeated loudly.

He ran his fingers through his brown hair. "This can't be happening," he breathed. He looked at her once more before he put his sandwich down and just walked outside.

"Where are you going, Derek?" she asked angrily and annoyed.

"Would you just, give me a moment to myself, please? I'll be back, I'm going for a walk," he replied just as irritated as she was. He wanted to talk to Casey at that moment, he knew she would be infuriated, but he wanted to hear her voice whether angry or not. Maybe she was at her cabin already. He quickly made his way to her cabin and knocked on the door. She answered and he just let himself.

"Can we talk?" he said, looking over at the couch he saw Jesse sitting calmly. "Oh, I'm sorry, am I intruding?" Derek asked insincerely.

"I can take a hint," said Jesse standing up. "I'll call you tomorrow, Casey," he kissed her on the cheek and walked out.

Derek shot her a stern look as he crossed his arms.

"We were just talking, Derek," she said in annoyance. "What do you want?" she paused for a moment. "I'm really getting tired of this, Dee," she said with a frustrated sigh.

"Getting tired of what?" He asked.

"This, Derek, being second best!" she exclaimed. "You always run to me when you have problems. This stops now," she placed her hands on her hips firmly. "Please, leave."

Surprised, he looked at her questioningly, wondering if she was joking. "Come on, Case, stop messing around," he said taking a step towards her.

She stepped back and turned her back to him. "I'm not joking, Derek."

"Casey," he didn't mean to say her name so desperately, but at that moment he kind of was. "I thought we were friends," he said almost in a whisper.

Sighing, she remained quiet for a while which killed Derek. He could hear the drops of water falling from the kitchen faucet.

A few drops of water had fallen before Casey finally spoke, "What about me, Derek?" she turned to face him once more, her eyes appeared glossy. "What if I can't handle being your friend?"

He was a bit confused. "What're you talking about?" he inquired.

"Just… Forget it…" she walked into the kitchen to do the few dishes that were in the sink. "This is so stupid," he heard her whisper.

"Casey, please, tell me what you're talking about," he said as he followed her into the kitchen.

She just ignored him and continued to do the dishes.

"Casey," he tried to get her attention, but again she ignored him and he hated being ignored. Angry, he grabbed the sponge and dish from her hand and threw it in the sink, luckily the dish was plastic. "Talk to me, dammit!"

"Derek, I can't do this anymore, okay? I just can't…" she began, the tears were apparent in her eyes now. "I can't keep pretending like this," she exclaimed. "I can't keep putting myself through this, I'm not strong enough," her voice was beginning to crack.

"Casey, calm down," He said, but she just continued to rant.

"I don't like Brooke at all, Derek, she's not good for you," Casey began.

Derek stepped forward, closing the gap between them and met her lips with his, pushing her up against the kitchen counter. He never realized how much he missed this familiar feeling, he never realized how much he missed her. At that moment he forgot about everything, all his troubles suddenly went away. Then she pushed him away and just gazed into his eyes for a moment.

"You're engaged, Derek and you just kissed me," she said appearing a bit bewildered.

He pursed his lips together and remembered why he had walked to her cabin in the first place, but for some reason he didn't want to take back what had just happened. "I know, Casey, I…" Oh hell… He couldn't tell her now. _Way to go, Venturi! _He thought angrily. "I have to go," And with that he rushed out of the cabin. "You're a damn genius," he told himself sarcastically as he walked away from a befuddled Casey.

Meanwhile at Lizzie's cabin as she retrieved a snack from the kitchen, there was a knock at her door. To her non-surprise it was Edwin and he had brought her a batch of home-made chocolate chip cookies.

"You're evil," she said as her mouth watered just from the aroma of the baked treats.

"Can I come in?" he asked with a sly smile on his face.

Sighing, she let him enter and she grabbed the plate from his hands, sat down at the table and began to eat them with milk. "What do you want, Ed?" she asked as she ate a cookie.

He sat down next to her and said, "Liz, I want to be involved in this baby's life."

"Look, we tried to make it work and it didn't, so I think it best if you weren't involved," she said looking down at her hands.

Edwin sighed. "You have to tell them who the father is one of these days, Liz."

"It's better that they don't know," she stated.

"But I'll know, doesn't that matter? God, you're being selfish," he said in frustration.

"Edwin, please don't make this harder than it already is," Lizzie said as she stood from the table and walked over into the living room.

He walked over to her, grabbed her by her hand, stared straight into her eyes and said, "You can't keep denying that this," he placed his hand on her belly and continued, "is our baby."


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N: I'm so sorry it took me so long to update this. Been super busy, but I hope you all like this chapter! Review!**

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It was the last night of this somewhat emotionally chaotic family reunion as the Venturi/McDonalds' came together for one last dinner in the mess hall. Felicia made arrangements for dinner to be served to her guests' in their cabins so that the family could have privacy and they didn't know it yet but this night would be different than others. All you could hear were the crickets mating call outside the hall and the clacking of silverware on glass plates.

"Well… Isn't this nice," Felicia said as she sipped her glass of red wine, obviously trying to break the awkward silence.

"Yes, it is, mom, thank you for having us," Nora replied graciously as she elbowed George with much subtlety.

"Yes, thank you, Felicia, it's been fun," he chimed in, his mouth full of food.

"Yeah, thanks grandma," the younger ones said, one after the other.

Nora then looked over at the older ones, Derek, Casey, Edwin, Lizzie and Marty. Again the room was enveloped in silence.

Brooke, after a few moments of stillness, finally spoke, "I have an announcement."

Derek looked at her as if he were saying, "No, not now."

She continued, "Derek and I are having a baby."

Nora's mouth fell open, George dropped his spoon onto his plate, Felicia choked on her wine, Edwin just sat there not surprised, Lizzie looked down at her food guiltily, Anya looked angry, Blake just had a blank expression, Marty shot Derek a glare that said, "You're an idiot", Kara shook her head in disappointment and last but not least, Casey; she dropped her fork and walked out abruptly.

Derek glared at Brooke and muttered, "Thanks," and went after Casey.

"Casey," He called after her. "Casey, wait, please," he ran up in front of her, stopping her in her tracks and before he could continue with his sentence she slapped him hard enough to make him stumble backwards.

"You are a selfish, son-of-a-bitch!" she exclaimed in a rage that Derek could see in her eyes. "How could you do this to us," she shouted even louder.

"I was gonna tell you," Derek replied.

"You knew?" she pushed him back. "You knew, even when you kissed me?" she screamed.

He had a blank expression on his features. "Case…" he trailed off. "I keep messing up."

Casey calmed down, realizing that she might be a bit too loud for the guests. "Derek, we're both adults, we aren't fifteen anymore. You need to take responsibility for your life and I," she paused for one moment, a single tear falling from her eye down her cheek. "I need to move on." With that she walked away.

Derek ran his hand through his hair both saddened and frustrated with himself.

Meanwhile back at the mess hall, there was an even more awkward silence than before. Then Edwin finally broke the silence saying, "Well, I have an announcement also."

"We have an announcement," Lizzie stated.

There was a suspenseful silence before Edwin went on, "I'm the father of Lizzie's baby."

Instead of choking on her wine, Felicia took a big gulp of it. Everyone else really didn't seem surprised, they were still stunned by the news Brooke had delivered to the dinner table.

"Congratulations, Ed, but you know what this means right?" George said matter-of-factly.

"Don't worry, dad, we're going to take responsibility for this baby," Edwin replied.

"This is too much for me, I'm going to bed," Felicia said as she stood and stumbled out of the hall.

Anya just glared at Brooke before walking out with Blake, Nora looked a bit disappointed. George, Kara and Marty soon left after Felicia and Nora.

Derek made his way back in to the hall and saw Brooke sitting at the table by herself with a semi-guilty look on her face. He sat across from her and just buried his face into his arms on the table.

"They would have found out sooner or later, Der," Brooke said as if trying to justify herself.

He just sat across from her and remained quiet. All he could think about was what Casey had said and the fact that he had lost her forever, but it was his own fault and she was right. He did have to start taking responsibility for his life.

**AAA**

After everything had settled down, Derek attempted to call Casey, but she expectantly didn't answer, so he left a message as he sat in the living room of his – well, his and Brookes – apartment. "It's me, Look, I really need to talk to you, please, call me back, five minutes is all I need," and with that he hung up the phone.

"Why are you even trying to contact her, Derek?" Brooke asked as she walked in and sat beside him, she had a large bowl of chips.

Derek rolled his eyes. "She's the mother of my children, Brooke," he said, firmly.

"And," she questioned with a mouthful of chips.

"She's a good friend and I don't want to lose her," He said a bit upset at her insensitivity.

"Seriously, she's your ex-wife, I'm your fiancé now," She said like a spoiled pampered princess. "And I'm the mother of your child," she said pointing to her stomach.

"Look, I know that, okay?" he said quite annoyed. He walked into the modern kitchen and saw Anya doing homework at the table. "Hey, kiddo," he took a seat next to her.

She glanced up at her father, "Hey."

He placed his forehead on the flat surface and said, "I really screwed up, didn't I?"

Anya chuckled lightly and patted her dad on his head, "Mom still not talking to you?"

"No," was his reply. "Has she said anything to you?"

"Trust me, you don't wanna know," his daughter said with a smirk on her beautiful features.

He looked at her and said quickly, "Yes I do."

She seemed to just study him for a while, "She just told me how much of a selfish bastard you are and she hopes your car just spontaneously combusts one day with you in it."

Derek winced as if he had gotten punched in the stomach. "Ouch." Well, he had to admit that at this point he didn't deserve to be alive.

"Dad, mom's dating Jesse," Anya said worriedly.

"Jesse, from Grandma Felicia's lodge?" Derek asked surprised and upset as well.

His daughter nodded. "Yup, they're getting pretty serious, they've been out every day this week and honestly, I don't like it."

Derek ran both his hands through his hair as if he wanted to pull every strand out in absolute frustration.

"You gotta do something, daddy," Anya exclaimed placing her hand on his arm.

"What? What am I gonna do, Ans? Your mom is a grown woman, she can make her own decisions," He replied in a bit of a panic.

"I know you still love her, daddy, and you know what?" Anya locked eyes with her father, "She's never stopped loving you."

Derek couldn't help but to look away, feeling a guilt that made his heart ache. He just had to cope with everything, Casey was probably happy with Jesse; she probably needed this time to… Move on. He had to respect that and he was going to try.

"Derek, could you bring me some milk?" Brooke yelled from the living room.

Sighing, he got up from the table and catered to his fiancé's needs.

**AAA**

Meanwhile, Casey sat at her kitchen table a bit dazed and in deep thought. She glanced down at her cell phone and saw all the missed calls from Derek. Taking a deep breathe she just continued eating her dinner.

"Is something wrong, Casey?" Jesse sat across from her eating the delicious dinner she had cooked. It was stir-fry tofu, egg, beef and rice a somewhat healthy meal.

"Everything's fine, just tired," she lied.

"Rough day at work?" he inquired.

She nodded, "Yeah." It had only been a few weeks after the mini-vacation she went on to her grandma's lodge. She couldn't help but to reminisce on past events.

"Why don't we go watch a movie tonight?" Jesse asked with a cheerful smile.

In that moment her cell phone rang, she glanced at the screen and saw that it was Lizzie. "I'll be right back, I have to take this," she said earnestly, then she made her way to the living room and answered her phone. "Hello, Liz? Is everything alright? Are you having the baby?" Casey ranted nervously.

"No, no, relax, Case," Lizzie laughed in amusement.

Casey sighed in relief, "Oh thank god."

"I just wanted to invite you to my baby shower next month at mom's house," Lizzie said still amused by her sister's panicked reaction.

"Oh sis, I think I'm gonna pass on this one," Casey replied as she sat on the living room sofa.

"You can't avoid him forever, Casey," she said firmly.

"I'm not avoiding him," the older sister said in offense. "I'm taking my time in dealing with the situation."

"Casey," Liz began, "you're avoiding him."

"Come on, please don't make me go," Casey complained.

"You're going, end of story," Lizzie stated.

"Fine, well I gotta go, I have company."

"Who, is it Jesse?" Liz asked slyly.

Smiling, Casey responded, "Yes."

"Boy, you guys are getting pretty serious, huh?"

"I don't know, I guess," Casey replied with a shrug.

"Alright, well, call me later then, love you."

Casey said her goodbye, hung up and walked back into the kitchen where Jesse was waiting, patiently for her to come back. She couldn't help but to think how great he was, completely opposite from Derek and actually cared about her opinion. He was perfect for her and she deserved a guy like him. The question was, does she love him? Could she ever learn to love him?


	11. Chapter 10

The time had come for Derek to go back to the place where it all started. He and Brooke parked in front of the house and he just sat there for a while. This is where he grew up, where he had fallen in love with…

"Hey, are we going in or what?" Brooke asked in annoyance.

He didn't want to admit it, but he was beginning to dislike her very much so. "Let's go," he muttered through gritted teeth.

George opened the door and greeted the two, "Derek, Brooke, how was your guys' flight?" He walked out to help with their bags.

"Long and exhausting, I could use a drink," Brooke said as she walked into the house.

Derek rolled his eyes knowing that she was saying that to get on his nerves.

"Is everything okay, son?" George asked as he heaved a heavy luggage bag out of the trunk of the rented car.

The younger Venturi took out his small "Nike" duffel bag from the trunk and replied, "Everything's fine, dad, we're just going through a rough patch."

"Derek, go to the store and get me something sweet," Brooke said as he entered his old home. "And make it fast," she added.

"Yes, honey," he dropped his duffel and walked back out to the car. On his way out Derek saw Casey, his kids and Jesse pull up in a black mini SUV. At that moment he just had the sudden urge to walk up to Jesse and punch him in the face, but he didn't.

"Daddy," Ben ran up to Derek and hugged him.

Then Anya walked up to her dad and followed her little brother's actions. "Where are you going?" she asked him.

"Gotta stop by the store for Brooke," he replied.

"Could we go?" Ben asked excitedly.

"If it's alright with your mother," Derek glanced at his wife and locked eyes with her. How he wished he could just take back everything he's ever done to her.

She tore her gaze away from his and gave her consent to the kids to go with their father.

As he drove away he saw Jesse kiss Casey on her lips and that about broke his heart, but it also made him angry or maybe it was just jealousy.

**AAA**

That night as everyone in the house slept, Casey woke up in the middle of the night. She decided to walk downstairs and grab a glass of water, before she walked out of her old room she looked over at Ben who was sleeping next to her on the bed. Anya was on the floor wrapped up in a sleeping bag, lightly snoring. The proud mom laughed and thought, "I am so blessed to have these kids."

As she made her way into the kitchen she heard a familiar voice, Casey tip-toed closer in her pink plaid pajama pant and white tank-top.

"Yes, I know," Casey heard the voice say. It was Brooke and she was obviously talking on the phone. "I don't know what I'm going to do when he finds out," Brooke stated apparently worried. "Well, what else was I supposed to do? He was going to break up with me."

Casey gasped and thought, _That sneaky little tramp_. With crossed arms she walked out into the kitchen for Brooke to see.

The younger brunette looked at Casey and bid good-bye to the person she was on the phone with before asking, "What did you hear?"

"Enough," was the snappy come back.

"Look, this is none of your business," Brooke declared firmly.

"None of my business," stated Casey in a disdaining manner. "You are lying to me and my family; doesn't your conscience say anything about that?"

"This is between me and Derek, Casey, stay out of it," Brooke warned.

Casey uncrossed her arms and replied, "No."

Brooke walked up to the ex-wife and asked, "What're you gonna do? Tell Derek? Do you honestly think he'll believe you?"

"And why wouldn't he?"

"You're his ex-wife and you're still in love with him," Brooke replied with a smirk on her face. "He'll just think that you're jealous, that you just want to ruin us and what we have," she added.

"What do you plan to do? He's gonna find out sooner or later," Casey said standing her ground.

"I'll just tell him and everyone else I miscarried," Brooke responded simply.

"You can't do this, they deserve to know the truth, Derek deserves to know the truth," Casey said.

"Trust me, Casey, you don't want to get involved in this," and with that Brooke walked away.

Casey was left there in the kitchen confused and worried. She had no idea what to do, I mean, she could tell Derek, but why would he believe her? And she wasn't still in love with Derek; she had Jesse now and was almost sure she was in love with him. Almost…

**AAA**

The next day Nora, Lizzie and Casey woke up early and cooked breakfast for the people still asleep, which were George, Derek, Edwin, Marty, Kara, Anya and Ben. Oh yeah, Brooke too was asleep.

"We're going to the ice-skating rink today, Case, you should invite Jesse to come," Nora said as she scrambled the eggs in a stainless steel pan. Lizzie was cooking pancakes on the burner next to Nora and Casey was toasting bread in the toaster which really isn't considered cooking, but nonetheless, this is the duty she was stuck with.

Liz then asked, "Where is that guy anyway?"

"He's probably still asleep at the hotel," replied Casey.

"Oh baby," Liz held her belly with a surprised look on her face.

"Lizzie, what's wrong?" Casey immediately rushed to her sister's side.

"Nothing, the baby is just moving," the younger sister said as she took a seat at the table. "I just need to sit for a few moments."

Nora asked, "Are you sure, honey?"

Lizzie nodded. "Oh yeah, I'll be fine."

"Don't worry, I'll finish cooking pancakes," Casey said after giving her sister a glass of water.

"Thanks," Lizzie sighed.

After breakfast the family went to the ice-skating rink and as Derek watched Casey and Jesse holding hands, he decided to mess with them a bit; he picked up speed and skidded to a stop spraying ice all over them. He laughed in amusement.

"Dude, what is your problem?" Jesse asked confronting Casey's ex-husband.

"Nothing, man, just having some fun, lighten up," Derek said with a coy smile on his handsome features.

Casey skated in between them and faced Jesse, "Stop, just let it go." She then turned to Derek, "Grow up will you?"

"Oh now you talk to me," Derek exclaimed as she skated away with Jesse.

She couldn't help but turn back around to confront him, "You wanna know why I haven't returned your calls?" she paused for a moment. "Because for the longest time, my life was based around yours," she walked even closer and went on, "Not anymore."

Derek looked away from her and made his way out of the rink. He really hated his current situation, all he wanted to do was fix things, but he didn't even know how to do that. He sat down outside of the skating-rink and buried his face in his the palms of his hands. _Okay, Venturi, get it together, you really have to think about this one…_

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**A/N: Whoa! Two Chapters in one day, hopefully I can get another one up soon. Review!**_  
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	12. Chapter 11

**A/N: And yet another. It's short and sweet, at least I think so. Review!**

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It soon came time for the family to eat dinner; it was especially noisy because of the children and the adults talking over them. Casey and Derek avoided direct communication with each other, but they kept glancing at one another. Jesse had left; he told Casey that he had some errand to run. Brooke retired early as well, she was exhausted from the afternoons ice-skating event. So this left Nora, George, Derek, Casey, Edwin, Lizzie, Marty, Kara, Anya and Ben sitting at the dinner table. Soft jazzy music could also be heard from the new surround sound stereo George had bought recently.

Irritated, Casey stood from the table and said, "I'm gonna get another bottle of wine from the cellar." She made her way down to Nora and George's room; they had another room built just for wine storage. After most of the kids left home George took up wine collecting and of course Nora made sure he didn't go too crazy. She did manage to give up her walk-in closet, though. Casey walked in to the small room and saw all three walls of nothing but wine, her mouth fell open in amazement as she browsed through the racks. Suddenly she heard the door slam; she jumped and spun around quickly to see who entered the closet. Of course, it was Derek.

"Oh my god, you scared the be-jesus out of me," she said placing her hand on her chest.

"We need to talk," Derek said severely.

Rolling her eyes she replied, "All the talking is done." She tried to pass him, but he stepped in her way. "Der-ek!" She exclaimed as if she were fifteen again.

"Cas-ey," he said in the same manner, then that trademark smirk of his appeared on his features. "I'm being serious," he gazed straight into her cobalt blue eyes.

She was mesmerized for a moment, then she shook her head, "I won't give in to this." She pushed passed him and turned the knob of the door, the problem was, nothing happened. The door would not open. "Oh god, please, not again," she muttered remembering a similar situation with Derek in the bathroom when they were fourteen or fifteen. She violently shook the door knob and pulled.

"Case, stop you're gonna," and before he could finish his sentence, she had pulled the door knob right off. Sighing, he crossed his arms and sat down on the tile floor.

"What're you doing?" she asked, trying to remain as calm as possible.

"Getting comfortable, we're obviously gonna be in here for a while," Derek stated leaning against the bare wall of the wine closet.

"How do you know? They're bound to check on us," Casey remarked as she tried to fix what she had broken.

His eye-brow rose, "Nora and my dad have been drinking, so has Ed, Lizzie was making her way to her room before I came down and Kara had taken the kids to their beds already. Face it; we're pretty much stuck in here for the rest of the night."

"What about Brooke?" Casey pointed out.

"Are you kidding me? She's snoring away in bed," he replied quickly.

She put her back against the door and slowly slid into sitting position. "Oh my god," she paused for a moment. "This is your fault," she pointed at Derek angrily.

"And here we go," Derek threw his arms up in exasperation.

"What? It is, if you hadn't followed me down here in the first place, we wouldn't be stuck in this situation," she said throwing the door knob at him.

He dodged it, "Hey, no need for violence." He then stood up and examined the wine racks.

"What're you doing now?" Casey asked more annoyed than ever.

"What does it look like I'm doing? Picking out a bottle of wine," he replied seemingly annoyed with her questioning.

She frowned and looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Hey, might as well make the best of it," he grabbed a wine opening from a drawer which was attached to the rack and popped open a bottle of merlot, which was a red wine and took a swig straight from the bottle. "Here," he gave it to her.

"I don't want any," she said stubbornly, giving him back the bottle.

Suddenly they could hear Nora and George stumbling down the stairs into their room which was attached to the wine closet directly. Casey banged on the door trying to get her mom and George's attention, then suddenly she could hear the bed squeaking rhythmically.

Casey's eyes widened in utter disgust, she looked at Derek and of course he was laughing his ass off. She grabbed the bottle of wine away from him and took a big gulp of it.

An hour and two and a half wine bottles later, the squeaking stopped. They could hear the muffled snoring of George.

"How did they not hear us?" Casey asked her eyes a bit glossy from all the wine she had consumed.

Derek responded, feeling a bit buzzed as well, "When your drunk and horny, nothing else matters."

"Ugh… That's appalling, Derek," she said before taking another drink of wine. "I can't deny, that I'm feeling a bit,"

He cut her off, "Horny?"

"No!" she exclaimed, glancing at him, then at the floor. "Dammit, you made me forget what I was gonna say." She stood up unsteadily and began to bang on the door again, "Would you please let us out!" she exclaimed.

"Casey, stop, there's no point, they're dead asleep," Derek held her arms stopping her.

"Let go, I need to get out of here," she faced him and tried pushing him away, but he had her arms pinned against the door.

"Calm down," he said firmly.

Panting, she stopped struggling and stared into his eyes once more. After a moment of being lost in his eyes, she jumped on him, wrapping her legs around his hips and placing her soft lips on his. He was of course caught by surprise, but could not deny Casey, he went along with her. He slammed her back against the wall and began to grind into her moist womanhood.

She moaned against his lips as if begging for more, which drove him crazy. He gently laid her on the floor not losing contact between her lips and his, he began to ravish her body like he used to. How he missed her. Suddenly his mind seemed to have come back to reality, because he just stopped.

"What's wrong?" Casey asked, she obviously wasn't all there.

"I can't do this to you, hun, I can't take advantage of you like this," he said placing his forehead against hers.

She just stroked his cheek and said nothing. He rolled off of her and laid on his back next to her. At that moment Derek couldn't help but to smirk, he looked at Casey fast asleep next to him. He turned over on his side and placed is hand on hers. _I'm done screwing up…_


	13. Chapter 12

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a long time. Here's a short chapter! Enjoy and don't forget to review!**

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He woke up on the floor and saw Casey next to him rubbing the sleep from her eyes and moaning as if she were in pain.

"Oh god, too much wine," she complained as she pushed herself up to sitting position.

Derek glanced at his wrist-watch and it read six-twenty, he had a bit of a head-ache, but nothing he couldn't handle. "Yeah, you had a little too much to drink," he said in amusement. "I wonder if anyone's up yet." He stood and put his ear to the door.

Casey was just staring at him, like she was having a battle within herself.

"What?" he asked curiously.

She stood up, "Der, I think there's something you should know about Brooke."

"And what's that?" he asked in a concerned tone of voice.

Suddenly the door flew open and in came Edwin, he had fallen to the floor, "There you guys are," he said as he stood up.

George and Nora were right behind Edwin with a look of concern and maybe even a bit embarrassed.

"Were you two in there the whole night?" George asked almost afraid to ask that question.

Derek walked out, patted his dad on his shoulder and said, "Unfortunately, yes." And with that he made his way up to the kitchen.

"Case, are you okay?" Nora asked.

Nodding, Casey responded, "I'm fine, just had a little too much to drink last night." She walked out and before she made her way upstairs told George, "By the way, sorry about the wine bottles."

Edwin picked up the three empty wine bottles and said nothing; he just smiled in amusement and walked up to the kitchen.

"They were in there the whole night, George," Nora said as if implying the question, "Do you think they heard us?"

"Yeah, but you heard, they were drinking," He replied as he examined the door. "We really should get this fixed."

Meanwhile upstairs in the kitchen Brooke walked in interrupting Derek as he ate his bowl of cereal. He seemed a bit annoyed and hung over for that matter.

"Where the hell have you been?" she asked infuriated.

"The wine room and could you please, watch your language in front of our children," he glanced over at Casey as she served Anya and Ben some eggs and pancakes. He saw a faint grin grace her beautiful countenance.

Brooke glared at him, did not respond and walked away, seemingly frustrated.

Derek saw something in Casey's eyes as they locked onto one another's gaze for but a brief moment before Ben interrupted abruptly asking for more syrup on his pancakes.

In all honesty, Derek hated himself for getting into this very complex situation and just wished that he had a time machine so he could undo all that he has done wrong, to Casey, to his kids, to his family.

Suddenly they heard a scream coming from the bathroom upstairs, Derek rushed to the scene, but the bathroom door was locked, "Brooke, honey, is everything okay?" He banged on the door.

He heard the toilet flush and Brooke came out crying hysterically. "I'm sorry, Derek," she cried. "The baby…" she trailed off.

Derek took her into his arms and embraced her, trying to comfort her and the pain she was going through at that moment. He saw Casey standing by the staircase with a blank expression on her lovely features. She looked very perturbed and bothered as she turned and walked back downstairs.

"Do you need to go to the hospital, babe?" Derek asked as his fiancé calmed down a bit.

She continued to cry and said, "No, I just want to lay down."

"Okay," he said gently, led her to their room and helped her get comfortable on the bed.

"I'm sorry…" she said with tears in her eyes.

He kissed her on her forehead and replied, "No, it's not your fault, babe, these things just happen."

She held his hand for a moment and a few minutes past before she drifted off to sleep.

Upon walking out of his room, there was his family, waiting in the hallway, obviously wondering what had happened. He briefly explained what happened and got empathetic hugs from his dad and Nora. Edwin, Lizzie, Marty and Kara hugged him also, followed by his kids, but Casey... She just lingered in the background and really didn't do anything or say anything for that matter, which really bugged Derek, but he wouldn't address it at that moment.

"Do you want us to call off the baby shower, Der?" Lizzie asked as she rubbed her tummy, as if thankful for her healthy baby in her womb.

"No, she wouldn't want that, it's the main reason we came here," he replied sincerely. For some weird reason, Derek had feelings of relief than sadness.

"Can we do anything for you or her?" Kara asked in concern.

"No, she's sleeping right now and I just need to get some air," he walked passed them, down the stairs, into the backyard.

**AAA**

"Case, is something wrong?" Lizzie couldn't help but notice the look on her sister's face.

"No," was the older sister's quick response.

"Maybe you should go talk to him," Nora stated. Everyone nodded their heads in agreement with Nora.

Sighing and feeling forced into a situation she didn't want to be in, Casey gradually made her way downstairs and out the door to the backyard. The surroundings were nice, it was crisp and breezy outside, but the sun was shining nonetheless, which made the day seem less gloomy than it was turning out to be. She saw Derek sitting on the wooden picnic table that had been there 'forever'. She had to admit that she was quite nervous and she couldn't figure out why. Perhaps it was because she knew the truth and didn't want to blurt it out accidently. Knowing killed her… She walked over and sat beside him.

"What do you want?" Derek asked, emphasizing the 'you' part of his sentence. "Did they send you out here to talk to me?"

Casey nodded hesitantly.

"Well I'm fine, so you can pass the message on," he replied bitterly.

She stood up and began to walk off, but then she turned and said, "Look, I'm worried about you too, Derek." She paused to look at the bewildered expression on his handsome features. "And it's not because of what has happened."

"Casey, you never cease to confuse me, what are you talking about?"

Oh no, she felt it coming up, it was like word vomit. "Brooke wasn't pregnant to begin with, Derek!"


	14. Chapter 13

Derek stared at blankly as if he didn't know how to respond to what his ex-wife had just said. "What," was all that escaped his mouth.

Casey seemed to just stand there in disbelief at what she had just said. "Oh my god…" she trailed off. "I d-didn't mean," she seemed as if she were going to lose it. "I gotta go."

Now that she had caught his attention she wanted to leave which was typical, but Derek being, well Derek, he wasn't going to let that happen. He quickly stood up and blocked her from walking inside. "I don't think so, princess," he said rather sternly. "Tell me what the hell compelled you to tell me that lie?"

She glared at him and responded, "Why would I lie about something like that?"

"I don't know, to sabotage my happiness with Brooke perhaps?" he assumed and he knew she hated that about him.

Casey laughed sarcastically and said, "Please, you and I both know that you are not happy with Brooke." She began to walk away, "God, get over yourself," she said in disgust.

"How do you know Brooke was lying?" Derek jumped in front of her, once again blocking her way.

She just rolled her eyes and stated, "If you have to ask me that, you really don't know me or her for that matter." With that she walked past her ex-husband bumping his shoulder.

Derek watched as she walked in to the house, trying to decide whether or not to believe her. Maybe she was playing some kind of sick mind game with him, but why would she do that? Revenge? Casey really wasn't a vengeful person, at least to his knowledge she wasn't.

Later that day, as the baby shower party went on, Derek noticed how Brooke seemed to recover so quickly from her supposed miscarriage and that triggered a whole bunch of questions that he wanted to ask Brooke, but was this the time to be starting drama? He didn't want to ruin Lizzie's baby shower so he just kept his mouth shut and pretended that nothing was wrong.

"Hey, you guys look what I found," Edwin ran down the staircase quickly and pulled out a familiar box from behind his back. "Twister!"

Lizzie smiled and said, "Oh my gosh, I remember that game!"

"Who's up for it?" Edwin asked all of Lizzie's friends who didn't seem to want to play. "Oh come on guys, loosen up a bit!"

Finally, Katelyn, one of Lizzie's friends volunteered, then another, Rachel. Casey hesitantly gave in after being prodded and nudged by Marty and Kara, and last but not least Derek decided to join in on the action. It was Twister, how bad could it be?

Half way through the game, there were only three people left, Edwin, Casey and Derek. The rest of the guests watched and laughed as they contorted their bodies every which way.

"Oh god, I forgot how flexible you had to be to play this game," Derek grunted and groaned.

"Ed, it's your turn," Casey said as she held her position with much ease.

Edwin reached for the 'Twister' board and collapsed. "Dammit," he sighed in a defeated tone. "Well, looks like it's just you and Derek."

"Spin the arrow, Derek," Casey said as she glared at him competitively.

He did and it stopped at "Right hand, blue", which happened to be next to Casey on the side furthest from him. How the hell was he supposed to reach that? He leaned over her and managed to place his hand on the blue dot.

"Oh my god, Der-ek!" she said in annoyance as he leaned over her making her get lower to the ground, almost in a low plank position.

"Shut up and spin the thing," Derek said perspiring.

Her arrow landed on "Left hand, Red" which was between Derek's legs. "Ugh… Are you serious?" she sighed as she could hear the guests and the rest of the family snickering in amusement.

"Come on, mommy," Blake said.

"Go, Daddy," was Anya's cheer.

Casey began to reach between Derek's legs to go for the "red dot", but it seemed he couldn't hold his position any longer and fell right on top of her. Everyone continued to laugh and cheered at Casey as the 'Twister' champion.

"Would you get off me, Derek!" she pushed him off and climbed to her feet.

He got to his feet soon after and said, "Don't need to get all snappy with me, princess."

"Time for the cake," Nora said, signaling all the guests to the kitchen to grab a piece.

Brooke pulled Derek aside out back and said, "What the hell was that?"

"What?" Derek asked obviously oblivious.

"Playing 'Twister' with your ex-wife? We're getting a little too chummy aren't we?" she said in sarcasm.

"We were just having a bit of fun and I did it to appease my family," Derek said in his defense.

"When we get married, I don't want to see anything like what I just saw," Brooke stated warningly. "If it was my choice, you wouldn't even talk to, much less see that woman!"

"You know what? That woman has been honest to me, unlike a certain fiancé," Derek said, crossing his arms and glaring at her studiously.

Brooke seemed to be taken aback. "What are you talking about?"

"You really weren't pregnant were you?" He replied.

She just stared at him blankly. "Why would you assume such a thing?" she asked as if she were appalled.

"Really, Brooke, is it an assumption?" Derek asked more sarcastically than ever. "If it's such an assumption, why don't we go to the hospital right now?"

She sighed and gawked, "Casey's really gotten to you hasn't she?"

Derek kept his arms crossed and said nothing.

"She's turned you against me, can't you see that?" she stated more than asked. "Don't let her get between us like this, babe," she wrapped her arms around him and embraced him tightly.

Derek didn't know what to say and he didn't know who to believe. On one hand he wanted to believe Brooke because she was perfect for him or so it seemed, but on the other hand Casey has always been there for him and despite everything they've gone through her intentions have always been unselfish. To put it bluntly, he was torn.

All of a sudden, Nora popped her head out, looking as panicked as ever. "Oh my god, Lizzie's going into labor!" she exclaimed.

The whole family was emotionally mixed with excitement and worriment as they crammed into two vehicles and carpooled to the hospital hurriedly, of course. Twenty minutes later the family was in the waiting room, sitting in silence. Nora and George sat together in one area; Anya, Blake and Kara were flipping through the channels of the old 90's television, which sat upon a wooden stand. Brooke sat next to Derek, she was on her phone texting or browsing the internet and Marty sat next to Casey quietly in concern.

Of course Derek was worried about Lizzie and the delivery of her baby, but something was just tugging at him. He couldn't take just sitting there anymore, he had to leave, go for a walk… Something…

"I'll be back," he told everyone and walked out into the wide hallway. _Come on Venturi, get a hold of yourself. Lizzie's about to have her baby, this isn't about you. _He thought as he paced back and forth through the hall as doctors and nurses busily passed him by. He then started to remember when Casey had Anya, how proud he felt as a father and husband. He felt love and warmth as he held his baby girl in his arms for the first time. Derek would never forget the look that Casey had in her eyes as she told him that she loved him. He remembered leaning over, kissing her on the forehead telling her what a good job she had done and how beautiful their daughter was.

In a moment's time Casey walked out into the hall, she seemed worried, but then so was everyone else in the room with the exception of Brooke.

"What's wrong?" Derek asked as he approached her, stepping into her personal space. It was more of a conversation starter. He honestly didn't know why he chose such a dumb question, because he obviously knew the answer.

She just looked at him and rolled her eyes as if saying, "Leave me alone, asshole." She began to walk away.

"Case, wait," he followed her.

"Why are you following me?" she asked sternly.

"Because I wanna know why you would lie to me about Brooke's pregnancy," Derek said not faltering.

She stopped to look at him for a moment. "Are you serious, Derek?" she shook her head as if disappointed and irritated at him. "You are just unbelievable," she exclaimed angrily as she proceeded to walk down the hall. "Why don't you stop for a minute and think what motives Brooke has and what motives I have."

He followed her, "And what motives do you have, Casey, to make my life a living hell?"

"You are so self-centered," she told him in disgust. "That's not something I would do, Derek, god what do I have to do to get you to believe me?"

He looked around and for a moment to make sure the coast was clear, then he pushed her into an empty patient room to continue their conversation in private. The curtains were closed, giving the room an eerie feeling that most people hate about hospitals.

"What the hell, Derek? My sister is in labor, I have no time for this nonsense," she stated firmly.

"We have to settle this sooner or later, Casey," Derek stated as she paced the small area.

It was a typical hospital room, two beds, curtains that divided the room into sections, plain white linens and a single TV that would be shared by both patients occupying the room. That would definitely be an issue for Derek. He shook his head, bringing his mind back to the matters at hand.

"Then make it later, Derek, now is not the time," she said as she began to make her way toward the door.

Derek only had a second to react; he couldn't very well let her walk out, could he? _Venturi, she's walking out, you gotta stop her, _damn, not that voice again. He acted on instinct and that was to grab her by her wrist, pull her to himself and… kiss her? Well, that's what he did, _that wasn't what I had in mind, but okay_…

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the cliffhanger, another chapter will be up soon, hopefully... Thank you to everyone who reviewed!**


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